Romans 8

   "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
   For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made us free from the law of sin and death.
   For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
   That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
   For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
   For to be carnally minded is enmity against God:  for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
   So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
   But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
   And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
   But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
   Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
   For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:  but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
   For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
   For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
   The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
   And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
   For I reckon that the suffering of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
   For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
   For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope;
   Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
   For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
   And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
   For we are saved by hope:  but hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
   Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:  for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
   And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
   And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
   For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be comformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
  Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called:  and whom he called, them he also justified:  and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
   What shall we say to these things?  If God be for us, who can be against us?
   He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
   Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?  It is God that justifieth.
   Who is he that condemneth?  It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
   Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
   As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
   Now, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
   For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
   Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
  
  
  
  

LITTLE TOWERS OF BABEL

   

   After the flood of  Noah, the religion at the tower of Babel was invented out of the imaginations of men, and, ever since that day, all religions upon the earth are inventions out of the imaginations of men; therefore, the tower of Babel was the birthplace of all religions on the face of the earth.

   "And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do:  and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.     Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth:  and they left off to build the city.  Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth:  and from there did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."  (Genesis 11: 5-9)

   Not only have religions been a work out of the imaginations of men, but all of the gods and goddesses of all religions have also been manufactured out of the imaginations of men.
   None of these gods and goddesses are real, none of them are living, but they are perceived   to be real in the imaginations of people who believe in religions.
   All religions on the earth, moreover, have been built on the foundation of the same religious system that was laid at the tower of Babel, for all religions have the same elements of Babel---only they have been disguised in various ways, with various titles, and with various names for gods and goddesses and spread across the earth from nation to nation that began in various language groups, so that each nation---or language group---could have its own religion, with its own gods and goddesses, and with its own collection of "sacred" texts.
   Furthermore, all of religions' writings---their books, their laws, their rites and rituals---are also written out of the imaginations of men.
   The common ground that all religions share is found in the fact that all of them are against God, all of them are against Christ, and all of them are against the Bible.
   The Bible calls this system Babylon, and because all religions are out of Babylon, all of them are on the same team even though they appear to be operating independently.
   This post today is not only the story of the blind leading the blind, but it is also the story of the blind following  the blind.

      "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost; in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."  (2nd Corinthians 4: 3-4)

   Without the gospel of Christ, it is impossible  for people to believe in God and that God is living in heaven.
   Without the gospel of Christ, it is impossible  for people to believe that Christ died for sin, that He was resurrected from death, and that He ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.
   Without the gospel of Christ, it is impossible for people to believe that the Bible is the word of the Lord from God in heaven.
    Consequently, all of the people in all of the religions of the world, as well as the leaders of all religions of the world, are blind  to the truth that abides in Christ Jesus, for Jesus said,
     
      "I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."  (John 14: 6)

   None of the gods or goddesses can say that because none of the gods and goddesses exist, for not one is alive or living:  for all of them are built in the imaginations of people from the imaginations from religions' founding fathers and transformed to the imaginations within their congregations by religions' ministers and priests.
  The only evidence they can offer is found in the images  of gods and goddesses, which are idols of stone or wood, pictures or portraits, which they have built by their own hands and out of their imaginations, and the only thing idols can do is sit on the floor or hang on the wall, yet having no ears to hear, no eyes to see, and no mouths to speak, while people will actually believe that these images are representatives of gods and goddesses even though they do not exist.
   How blind can people be!
   Even today, some of the most highly educated people in the world will fall on their knees in houses of religion and worship an image sitting on the floor or hanging on a wall, or an etching in a stained-glass window, such as in a temple, a shrine, and also a cathredral---with the mind of a toddler, who believes that Santa Claus is real.
  We also know that in some churches and Christian religions people will fall down on their knees and worship an image of Christ hanging on a cross while never saying a word about Him when they leave the buildings.
   Just how blind can they be!
   They are blind to the gospel of Christ because the Bible has been hidden from them within their own institutions where Christ has been transformed to no more than on image hanging on a wall.
   So we can see, then, that the religion of Babylon has entered and penetrated places that we call Christian churches, and the people within these places are the same as the people at the tower of Bable.  They are blind to the gospel of Christ because their leaders are also blind to the gospel of Christ, and this is the story of the blind leading the blind. 
  Sadly, all of these people teach their children to believe in the same Babylonian system, but disguised in the cloak of Christianity.
  These false churches, therefore, are little towers of Babel spread across the United States and in nations all over the world.
   To be saved by Christ, people must come out of Babylon.  They must come out of these little towers of Babel, for Jesus makes a plea unto them:

      "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."  (Revelation 18: 4)

      "Neither is there salvation in any other: 
          for there is none other name
             under heaven
         given among men,
             whereby we must be saved."
                         (Acts 4: 12)

CASH COWS

  According to Forbes,  October 19, 2015, the money value of sports in America will reach $73.5 BILLION by 2019, and the Dallas Cowboys is currently the wealthiest sports franchise at $4.8 BILLION.

   COLLEGE SPORTS:
  According to Business Insider, October 14, 2016, 231 NCAA Division I colleges and universities generated $9.15 BILLION during the 2015 fiscal year.

   COLLEGE FOOTBALL:
   According to Sports Money, October 21, 2015, college football's three largest money makers were the University of Texas, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Tennessee.  These three produced a combined total of $300 million in the 2015 fiscal year.
   Nick Saban, head football coach at the University of Alabama, and Jim Harbaugh, head football coach at the University of Michigan, each earn more than $7 million per year---while college teachers earn a teacher's pay.

   HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL:
   In Allen, Texas, voters approved a referendum and built a $60 million state-of-the-art high school football stadium with 18,000 seats.
   According to dfwVarsity, the average salary of a high school football coach in the state of Texas is $98,668---while other teachers earn a teacher's pay.
   According to the Moultrie Observer, seventeen Georgia high school football coaches earn at least $100,000 per year, and the head football coach at Buford High School is paid $174,000 per year---while other teachers earn a teacher's pay.

   OUTSIDE THE LINES:
   According to a study at Georgetown University, the money value of religion in America is worth $1.2 TRILLION in the U.S. economy, which is more than Google and Apple combined.
   It is difficult to separate the wealth of churches from religions since world religions have churches and religions, and also because world religions also have branches in the United States.
   Therefore, here is a list of the world's top ten richest religions beginning with the wealthiest:

   #1  Roman Catholic Church
   #2  Islam
   #3  Judaism
   #4  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
   #5  The Church of England
   #6   Episcopalian
   #7   Televangelism
   #8   Protestantism
   #9   Freemasonary
   #10 The Church of Scientology

   What, then, do Americans value?
   Obviously, Americans value sports and Americans value religion because these are the places where they spend their money.  But in which order to Americans value most:  is sports first, or is religion first?
   I am reminded of a story in the second chapter of the book of Matthew in the Bible about the day when wise men came to Jerusalem in search of Jesus.

      "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and worshipped him:  and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh."  (Matthew 2: 11)

   Jesus said,
      "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."          (Matthew 6: 21)

   As Christians, do we lay our treasures at the feet of Jesus, do we give our money to the cause of the Gospel of Christ, or do we give our money to the cash cows of sports and religion?

 
  

A LONE WOLF

   In many of the various shootings across America over the past five years, how many times have we been told that the shooter was a lone wolf?
   In many of the airplane crashes and train wrecks over the past five years, how many times have we been told that the pilots of these vehicles were lone wolves?
   When President John Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, in 1963, we were told that Lee Harvey Oswold operated independently, or as a lone wolf.
   To assassinate a U. S. President is perhaps the greatest feather an assassin could add to his bonnet of kills.  But how did Oswold know to be in the right place and at the right time to shoot President Kennedy?  Or did he have outside help with logistics and planning, or even the promise of a financial gain?
   When people think about Judas Iscariot, do they think of him as a lone wolf in his betrayal of Christ?
   Judas was influenced by thirty pieces of silver.  But what was the source of his financial gain?

   Jesus said,

     "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.."  (Matthew 7:  15)

   The men that assassinated Jesus were the priests of the temple of God in Jerusalem, and it was from these men that Judas received his reward to betray Christ.
   These men were false prophets.  They were pretending to be servants of God, but, in truth, they were servants of Satan---and so was Judas Iscariot, for his contract was with evil men.
   When people reject Christ, are they operating as lone wolves in their decisions, or have their minds been influenced from outside sources to render the same conclusion:  that Christ is not  the Savior of the world?
    How many of these influences have come from false prophets?---from ministers and priests of religions and false churches, just as Judas Iscariot was influenced by the false prophets in Jerusalem.
   How many, too, have been influenced by members of their own families, or from their best friends, who have sold their souls just as Judas Iscariot sold his soul?

   Jesus said,

      "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lost his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"  (Mark 8:  36-37)

   What are your ministers and priests telling you about Jesus?

   What are your family members and best friends telling you about Jesus?

   Consider the sources of your information because your decision about Christ could also be a group decision, and you will be just as guilty of rejecting Christ as Judas Iscariot and the false prophets of Jerusalem.  

   The Bible says,

      "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."  (Hebrews 10: 31)

   Please consider your influences carefully because, after you die, your decision time is over; for then your soul will be in the hands of the living God.

A FINANCIAL TRINITY

   Governments and religions are the two greatest financial enterprises that man has built on the face of the earth.
   But the third part of a financial trinity must surely be sports.
   Even in the United States, college sports and professional sports rake in more money than any church or religion worldwide.
   It is the fans,  however, that enable both the players and these three institutions to grow and prosper; for, if people stopped giving their money, these three would collapse and fall because money  is the fuel that keeps their motors running.
  Consequently, it is the money from the fans of politics, the fans of religions, and the fans of sports that keeps their motors running, thereby enabling this financial trinity to divert the attention of people from the knowledge of God.

      "My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge:  because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me:  seeing that thou has forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.  As they were increased, so they sinned against me:  therefore will I change their glory into shame."                           (Hosea 4:  6-7)

   After all, do you know of any three topics in the conversations of people that are greater than politics, religions, and sports?
 
   Jesus said,

      "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."                                 (Matthew 6: 21)

   Common sense tells us that people talk about the things they love and cherish.
   Common sense also tells us that people give their money to the things they love and cherish.
   Obviously, millions and millions of people love and cherish the players and the institutions of governments, religions and sports, for these three receive more conversations and more money than any other players or institutions on the face of the earth.
   Rejecting Christ is in the hearts of billions of people because of this financial trinity more than any other place, and the evidence is clear:  where is Christ in the conversations of people today?
   Here in the United States, we say "one nation, under God". 
   But are we that one nation under God?
   If so, then where is the evidence in our conversations and in the giving of our money?
   What, then, is God saying to us out of heaven about Christ?

     "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased:  hear ye him."  (Matthew 17: 5)

  When was the last time you heard someone say they wanted to hear about Christ from the world of governments, religions, and sports?

     
 
   
  

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS

   Other than President Martin Van Buren, the bloodline of all other U. S. Presidents has been traced to one man, King John of England, 1167-1216.
   How in the world is this possible?
   Is it possible that presidential elections have been fixed from George Washington down to Barack Obama?
   Now let us gather together and blame President Trump for everything that is wrong with the United States while laying no charge at the feet of any other U.S. President.
   It is easy for people to blame President Trump for everything that is wrong with America because Mr. Trump is visible  and therefore an easy target.  But because other Presidents are either dead or retired, they have been exempt from their responsibilities and all of their faults are now on Mr. Trump.  And the people, while accepting no responsibility for their personal issues or personal failures, also blame President Trump.
   Does this seem to be the way of people all across the United States:
      to blame others for everything that is wrong
         while escaping personal responsibility?
   Haven't we heard this before?

   There came a day in the garden of Eden when God said unto Adam,

      "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?
        And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
       And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? 
       And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat."  (Genesis 3: 11-13)

   Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the serpent, and the blame game has worked well for thousands of years, even for people in the United States.
   We can't blame ourselves, can we? 
   Not when we believe we are perfect and incapable of sin, thereby escaping personal responsibility.
   After all, people have invented easy solutions for sin, such as water baptism, or by simply believing that a man or a woman in priestly garments can forgive sin; and with methods as simple as these, what do people need God for?  And what do people need Christ for?---even though many say, "Jesus is the reason for the season".
   Where is God across American today?
   And where is Christ, the One we say we worship and adore at Christmas and at Easter?
   Could it be that,
   
      "He is not here, but is risen: 
           why seek ye the living
              among the dead?" 
                 (Luke 24: 5, 6)